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The Blue Letter Bible

2 Kings 23 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

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Josiah’s Religious Reforms
(2Ch 34:29—35:19 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:1

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:1 - Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:2

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:2 - And the king went up to the Temple of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the LORD’s Temple.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:3

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:3 - The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the LORD’s presence. He pledged to obey the LORD by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:4

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:4 - Then the king instructed Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second rank and the Temple gatekeepers to remove from the LORD’s Temple all the articles that were used to worship Baal, Asherah, and all the powers of the heavens. The king had all these things burned outside Jerusalem on the terraces of the Kidron Valley, and he carried the ashes away to Bethel.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:5

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:5 - He did away with the idolatrous priests, who had been appointed by the previous kings of Judah, for they had offered sacrifices at the pagan shrines throughout Judah and even in the vicinity of Jerusalem. They had also offered sacrifices to Baal, and to the sun, the moon, the constellations, and to all the powers of the heavens.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:6 - The king removed the Asherah pole from the LORD’s Temple and took it outside Jerusalem to the Kidron Valley, where he burned it. Then he ground the ashes of the pole to dust and threw the dust over the graves of the people.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:7

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:7 - He also tore down the living quarters of the male and female shrine prostitutes that were inside the Temple of the LORD, where the women wove coverings for the Asherah pole.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:8

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:8 - Josiah brought to Jerusalem all the priests who were living in other towns of Judah. He also defiled the pagan shrines, where they had offered sacrifices—all the way from Geba to Beersheba. He destroyed the shrines at the entrance to the gate of Joshua, the governor of Jerusalem. This gate was located to the left of the city gate as one enters the city.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:9

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:9 - The priests who had served at the pagan shrines were not allowed[fn] to serve at the LORD’s altar in Jerusalem, but they were allowed to eat unleavened bread with the other priests.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:10

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:10 - Then the king defiled the altar of Topheth in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, so no one could ever again use it to sacrifice a son or daughter in the fire[fn] as an offering to Molech.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:11

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:11 - He removed from the entrance of the LORD’s Temple the horse statues that the former kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were near the quarters of Nathan-melech the eunuch, an officer of the court.[fn] The king also burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:12 - Josiah tore down the altars that the kings of Judah had built on the palace roof above the upper room of Ahaz. The king destroyed the altars that Manasseh had built in the two courtyards of the LORD’s Temple. He smashed them to bits[fn] and scattered the pieces in the Kidron Valley.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:13

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:13 - The king also desecrated the pagan shrines east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, where King Solomon of Israel had built shrines for Ashtoreth, the detestable goddess of the Sidonians; and for Chemosh, the detestable god of the Moabites; and for Molech,[fn] the vile god of the Ammonites.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:14

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:14 - He smashed the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. Then he desecrated these places by scattering human bones over them.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:15

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:15 - The king also tore down the altar at Bethel—the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. He burned down the shrine and ground it to dust, and he burned the Asherah pole.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:16

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:16 - Then Josiah turned around and noticed several tombs in the side of the hill. He ordered that the bones be brought out, and he burned them on the altar at Bethel to desecrate it. (This happened just as the LORD had promised through the man of God when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the festival.)
Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God[fn] who had predicted these things.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:17

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:17 - “What is that monument over there?” Josiah asked.
And the people of the town told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted the very things that you have just done to the altar at Bethel!”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:18

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:18 - Josiah replied, “Leave it alone. Don’t disturb his bones.” So they did not burn his bones or those of the old prophet from Samaria.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:19

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:19 - Then Josiah demolished all the buildings at the pagan shrines in the towns of Samaria, just as he had done at Bethel. They had been built by the various kings of Israel and had made the LORD[fn] very angry.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:20

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:20 - He executed the priests of the pagan shrines on their own altars, and he burned human bones on the altars to desecrate them. Finally, he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah Celebrates Passover

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:21

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:21 - King Josiah then issued this order to all the people: “You must celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as required in this Book of the Covenant.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:22

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:22 - There had not been a Passover celebration like that since the time when the judges ruled in Israel, nor throughout all the years of the kings of Israel and Judah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:23

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:23 - This Passover was celebrated to the LORD in Jerusalem in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:24

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:24 - Josiah also got rid of the mediums and psychics, the household gods, the idols,[fn] and every other kind of detestable practice, both in Jerusalem and throughout the land of Judah. He did this in obedience to the laws written in the scroll that Hilkiah the priest had found in the LORD’s Temple.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:25

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:25 - Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:26

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:26 - Even so, the LORD was very angry with Judah because of all the wicked things Manasseh had done to provoke him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:27

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:27 - For the LORD said, “I will also banish Judah from my presence just as I have banished Israel. And I will reject my chosen city of Jerusalem and the Temple where my name was to be honored.”
(2Ch 35:20—36:1 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:28

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:28 - The rest of the events in Josiah’s reign and all his deeds are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Judah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:29

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:29 - While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah and his army marched out to fight him,[fn] but King Neco[fn] killed him when they met at Megiddo.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:30

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:30 - Josiah’s officers took his body back in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. Then the people of the land anointed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz and made him the next king.
Jehoahaz Rules in Judah
(2Ch 36:1–4 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:31

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:31 - Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:32

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:32 - He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:33

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:33 - Pharaoh Neco put Jehoahaz in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath to prevent him from ruling[fn] in Jerusalem. He also demanded that Judah pay 7,500 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold[fn] as tribute.
Jehoiakim Rules in Judah

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:34

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:34 - Pharaoh Neco then installed Eliakim, another of Josiah’s sons, to reign in place of his father, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz was taken to Egypt as a prisoner, where he died.
(2Ch 36:5–8 )

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:35

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:35 - In order to get the silver and gold demanded as tribute by Pharaoh Neco, Jehoiakim collected a tax from the people of Judah, requiring them to pay in proportion to their wealth.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:36

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:36 - Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah.

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Ki 23:37

Unchecked Copy Box2Ki 23:37 - He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as his ancestors had done.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew did not come up.
Or to make a son or daughter pass through the fire.
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Or He quickly removed them.
Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech.
As in Greek version; Hebrew lacks when Jeroboam stood beside the altar at the festival. Then Josiah turned and looked up at the tomb of the man of God.
As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew lacks the LORD.
The Hebrew term (literally round things) probably alludes to dung.
Or Josiah went out to meet him.
Hebrew he.
The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
Hebrew 100 talents [3,400 kilograms] of silver and 1 talent [34 kilograms] of gold.
NLT

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

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2 Kings Chapter 23 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras